Classic : Amiga A500

Introduction

The Amiga A500, also known as the Amiga 500, is a personal computer that was released by Commodore International in 1987. It was Commodore attempt to replace their popular C64 computer and target the home computer market. Its based on the Motorola 68000 microprocessor and has 512 kilobytes of RAM, expandable to 1 megabyte. The A500 was the first low-cost Amiga model and it was aimed at the home and small business markets. It was popular for its advanced graphics and sound capabilities, as well as its multitasking operating system. It was also used in the gaming industry, video production and music composition.

The Amiga A500 featured an advanced graphics processor called the "Original Chip Set" (OCS), which was capable of displaying up to 4096 colors on screen at once. It also had a palette of 4,096 colors, which allowed for a wide range of color options in graphics and video. The OCS supported resolutions of up to 640x512 pixels in interlaced mode and 320x256 pixels in non-interlaced mode. The Amiga A500 also had support for hardware sprites, which allowed for fast and smooth movement of on-screen objects, and a blitter chip that helped to improve the performance of graphics operations. The combination of these advanced graphics capabilities made the Amiga A500 a powerful tool for video production and gaming.

The Amiga A500 had a wide variety of games that were released during its lifespan, but some of the most popular and critically acclaimed games for the system include:

"Elite": A space trading and combat simulation game that was considered a classic of the genre.
"Shadow of the Beast": A side-scrolling action-adventure game that was known for its impressive graphics and atmospheric soundtrack.
"The Secret of Monkey Island": A point-and-click adventure game that was well-received for its witty writing and puzzle design.
"Turrican": A side-scrolling shooter game that was known for its fast-paced action and impressive graphics.
"Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe": A futuristic sports game that combined elements of soccer and hand-to-hand combat.
"Another World": A cinematic platformer game that was known for its detailed graphics and immersive gameplay.

The A500 went on to become the best selling Amiga computer, with over 3 million sold world wide.

Specs

CPU 68000 - 7Mhz 16bit
OCS chipset (4,096 colours up to 640x512)
512kb Chip Ram (Plus model 1mb)
880Kb Floppy Disk Drive
1.3 to 2.0 Kickstart Rom
150Pin trapdoor / IDE / PCMCIA
£499.99 / $699.99 Release Price

In the Box

A500 Computer
PSU cable
TV Modulator
Workbench 1.3 (6 Disks)
Numer of Game and software packs got lauched
Release: October 1987

Batman Pack

A500 Computer
Workbench 1.3 (6 Disks)
Batman the Game
Newzealand Story
Interceptor
Deluxe Paint 3

Cartoon Classic

A500 Computer
Workbench 1.3 (6 Disks)
Lemmings
Simpsons Bart Vs the Space mutants
Captain Planet
Deluxe Paint 3

Screen Gems

A500 Computer
Workbench 1.3 (6 Disks)
Deluxe Paint 3
Days of Thunder
Back to the Future 2
Shadow of the Beast
Night Breed

Flight of Fantasy

A500 Computer
Workbench 1.3 (6 Disks)
F29 Retaliator
Escape from the planet of the Robot Monster
Rainbow Island
Deluxe Paint 2

The A500 Batman pack was by far the most successful package, Other bundles and package were created than what's shown here, these were the most popular UK bundles.

A500 Plus / A500+

In 1991 it was decided to give the Amiga A500 an upgrade, these machines were marketed as the A500 Plus. There were three main upgrades, the OS was upgraded to AmigaOS2.0 (from 1.3). The amount of system Ram was expanded to 1mb Chip Ram ( up from 512Kb) and it had the Enhanced Chip Set, also known as ECS in the Amiga world. This improved resolutions, allowed more colours, and expanded the Ram limits over the OCS. At the end of 1992 production of the A500 stopped and was replaced by the A600 / A1200 Amiga computers lines.